Powering innovation forward with unified security
Énergir, the main natural gas distributor in Quebec, Canada, employs over 1,500 people and has over $8 billion in assets. To keep its people and properties safe, the company upgraded to Genetec Security Center and now manages security across its sites from one single platform.
The company
Formerly known as Gaz Métro, Énergir is the main natural gas distributor in Quebec, Canada. In recent years, the company diversified its product portfolio, adding the development of renewable liquefied and compressed natural gas, solar and wind power, as well as hydroelectricity. This wide range of energy sources offers a more sustainable future for energy, which motivates Énergir to drive rapid and continual innovation forward.
The challenge
Outdated security technology held the Énergir security department back. The existing system wasn’t easy to use which hindered operational efficiency and made investigating alarms very time-consuming. This slowed incident response and took staff away from other important tasks. That’s when the security team knew— it was time to standardize on a modern and unified security platform to optimize their processes and better secure their sites.
The solution
Pro-active incident response
Handling incidents occur with greater efficiency and confidence. Should a perpetrator attempt to enter a restricted zone, the platform immediately alerts the team so they can quickly respond.
Easy collaboration with authorities
Using Security Center, the team can easily cooperate with the authorities and securely share evidence regarding incidents bordering their properties.
Stronger regulatory compliance
Énergir has recently acquired Genetec ClearID to streamline and automate access requests from employees and visitors and retrieve detailed audit reports to ensure regulatory compliance.
Open to future innovation
Énergir keeps evolving its operations with the latest innovations. “Genetec has been able to offer some of the most innovative and responsive security solutions on the market,” said David.
“There weren't many solutions that were both as comprehensive and scalable as Genetec. Each module has been developed to be unified with one another; this makes our agents' tasks much easier.”
Patrick David, Security and Systems Integration Adviser at Énergir
Results
Right from the start of their search, the Énergir team already understood how much time and money the Security Center unified platform could save them. This made it easier for them to confidently move ahead with Security Center. Within the unified security platform, the team can easily monitor live or recorded video using the Omnicast video surveillance system and manage cardholders and doors using the Synergis access control system.
The energy company has also implemented the AutoVu automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) system to reinforce perimeter security. The ALPR system automatically reads the license plates of vehicles and alerts the team to vehicles that have stayed too long or present a security risk. The AutoVu ALPR system has also helped the team minimize traffic congestion and improve the flow of vehicles at site entrances and exits.